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Wacky Races One
of the best cartoons was 'Wacky Races'. It was like an animated version of
Cannonball Run or Smoky and the Bandit. A group of misfits would race
across the American states in order to win the 'wacky race' however the
evil villain of the piece - Dick Dastardly would set traps for the others
so he would win.
 The
graphics are as stylistic as the cartoon, but benefit from a wider colour
palette. The characters look exactly like their 2D counterparts, and as
soon as you load the game up you are treated to a 3D version of the
cartoons opening titles. Sadly only the car introduction portion of the
titles has been incorporated but even this is enough to bring a tear of
nostalgia to your eye.
Okay
so the graphics are amazingly stylistic, but what about the sound. The
character voices have been re-recorded; for the most part they are very
good. You will be disappointed by Dick Dastardly's voice, but will soon
forget this when you hear Penelope Pitstop's voice. It is perfect. However
the biggest excitement is that Greg Proops is the announcer and
commentator. Some of you may not be aware of who he is, so I will
enlighten you. He is an American comic who regularly appears on
"Who's line is it anyway?' and also hosted a Channel 4 science
fiction quiz 5 years ago. However
all the care and attention lavished on the sound and graphics would be in
vain if the tracks were poorly designed. Well fortunately they are good,
don't go expecting any MSR quality road layouts - this is Wacky Races
remember! Nevertheless the tracks are well designed with alternative
routes and some really wide areas, which cleverly give the impression of
you driving across the U.S. states. The tracks come in many different
flavours, ranging from the snow peak sections to the sandy Oil and Mining
sections. Each car handles differently so you will have to experiment to
see which car suits which landscape.
Accessing
Dick Dastardly, The Red Max, and Pat Pending is time consuming, because
they are the boss characters. They will appear in the main hub of the game
after you have successfully finished certain tasks. You then have to race
and beat them to use them in the main game. Wacky Races also supports up to 4 players, splitting the screen depending on the number of players. Slowdown does appear when played in multiplayer mode, it is annoying at first - but the speed difference is acceptable and the game does not suffer on the whole that much. Wacky Races is not without its faults, but it is the best 'fun style' racing game. Whether the game would have been as good without the 'Wacky Races' license is debatable. In short this game has great well-established characters and tons of fun and challenge, it should definitely be a top purchase. Sam Smith, sam@dreamcastsource.co.uk
"Here comes the craziest collection of contraptions ever to hit the track, all trying to become worlds Wackiest Racer!”
>> Download some Dreamcast wallpaper |
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All copyrighted images and names are trademarks of their respective copyright holders. All original work is copyrighted by Farooq Asif. Unauthorised reproduction of any material from this site is strictly prohibited. © 2001 DreamcastSource.co.uk |
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Each
area has 5 race sections to complete, however to access the Cup challenges
and the Battle areas you have to perform well gaining stars and by
fulfilling the different race criteria. Stars are awarded by finishing
first, some tracks need a specific number of stars before you can access
them.
